Wednesday, April 29, 2015

April 29, 2015 Today, a new batch of
non-lethal equipment was transferred to the Ukrainian National Guard during a
media event in Kyiv, Ukraine. The Honourable Chris Alexander, Minister of
Citizenship and Immigration, attended the event
on behalf of Canada, in the presence of Lieutenant-General Mykola Balan,
Commander of the National Guard of Ukraine.

The shipment of night-vision
goggles is part of an $11‑million Canadian assistance package announced in
November 2014. Canada’s assistance is aimed at enhancing the capabilities of
the Ukrainian armed forces in their fight to defend their country’s sovereignty
and territorial integrity.

Monday, April 27, 2015

April 25, 2015 (BBC News, Moscow) An ultra-patriotic Russian bike club
has begun a controversial ride to Berlin, even though Poland says it will not
allow them to cross the country. The Night Wolves want to retrace the route of
the Red Army in World War Two, and visit memorials to the Soviet troops who
died fighting the Nazis. But Poland's prime minister called the trip a
provocation. The bikers are renowned for their staunch support of President
Putin, particularly his policies in Ukraine. The US has put the club on its
sanctions list. The group heading for Berlin joined a large crowd at the Night
Wolves' headquarters in Moscow on Saturday for the annual launch of the season.

Their leather jackets
were newly embroidered: "Routes of Victory, 1941-45". "I don't
think visiting war graves is provocative or aggressive," one of the men,
Vladimir, told the BBC as a rock band played on stage. "Ours is a friendly
visit, and we're unarmed. The most important thing is to visit the graves and
do something to tell our grandchildren about." Another biker already has a
Polish visa and says he informed the embassy of his plans when he applied. "So
what basis does the Polish government have for denying me entry now?" Viktor
Keller wanted to know. The official reason is that the Polish authorities were
not given sufficient notice of the trip and cannot guarantee the bikers' safety.

Saturday, April 25, 2015

April
25, 2015. As it was broadcasted by many Ukrainian news agencies, three lines of
defense will be built in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region along the border with Russia
and close to the combat area in the Eastern Ukraine.

These lines will represent
the system of dugouts connected with trenches. Besides there is a hill near the
crossroad of Kharkiv beltway and the highway connecting Kharkiv and Russian
city of Belgorod which cannot be bypassed by a potential enemy. So the Kharkiv
local authorities decided to build a reliable concrete defensive installation
there. The fort has already got the name Fort Solnechny (Sunny), and it is
about to be completed soon after April 25. There is a government resolution to
allocate 900 million hryvnias ($42.7 million under the current exchange rate)
to fortify in a proper way a border with Russia and the temporary occupied
territories.

Friday, April 24, 2015

April 24,
2015 (UNIAN News Agency). Leading French companies are
to supply helicopters and radio systems to the Ukrainian armed forces, the
press service of the Ukroboronprom state concern reported on Wednesday. Thales
Communication & Security S.A.S will deliver tactical radio communications
systems, while Airbus Helicopters S.A.S will sell its H125 single-engine
helicopters to Ukraine. In addition, experts from Ukraine’s Ukrinmash state
enterprise have signed a memorandum on cooperation with Thales Systems
Aeroportes S.A. on a joint project to create a modern patrol aircraft. The
strategic agreements in the sphere of military-technical cooperation between
Ukraine and France came during a working visit of Ukrainian President Petro
Poroshenko to France. As UNIAN reported earlier, French President François
Hollande and Poroshenko held a meeting in Paris on April 22.

During the meeting, the two leaders discussed the
implementation of the Minsk agreements and the possibility of the deployment of
an international peacekeeping mission in the Donbas conflict zone in eastern
Ukraine. Hollande said during the meeting that he wasn’t sure about the need
for the deployment of a peacekeeping mission in the Donbas. He also said that
France would this month ratify the Association Agreement between Ukraine and
the EU.

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

April 20, 2015 (AFP News Agency) US paratroopers
Monday began training Ukrainian government forces who will fight pro-Russian
separatists in the east, angering Moscow as the deadly conflict rumbles on in
the ex-Soviet country. Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko welcomed troops from
the US 173rd Airborne Brigade in a rain-soaked ceremony at a military base in
Yavoriv, western Ukraine, to launch Operation Fearless Guardian.

"We are the eyewitnesses and
direct participants in forming the new Ukrainian military, which like the
phoenix is rising again after years of decline," Poroshenko told the
assembled troops. "This is not only a war for the independence of Ukraine,
but also a war for freedom and democracy in Europe and the whole world."

Officials said some 300 US troops
will train 900 members of Ukraine's National Guard, which is deployed in the
east where heavy artillery fire can still be heard despite a February
ceasefire. The United Nations says more than 6,000 people have been killed in
the conflict in the past year and more than a million civilians have been
displaced. US Army Major Michael Weisman told AFP the mission would provide
training in individual and medical skills and defence manoeuvres with the kind
of weapons already used by the Ukrainian forces such as AK-47 assault rifles.

As the US brigade arrived in Ukraine
last week from its base in Italy, Russia warned the move could
"destabilise" Ukraine and said it was a step towards the United States
arming Ukraine.

Monday, April 20, 2015

As it was reported by SPUTNIK news agency Israel may start sending arms to Ukraine in response to Russia’s decision to lift its five-year embargo on the delivery of the S-300 missile system to Iran. Israeli government has not made any decisions yet on sending weapons to Ukraine. Last week Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Russian president in a phone conversation that the planned delivery of the S-300 missile systems to Iran will undermine stability in the Middle East and increase Tehran's belligerence.

The deal between Russia and Iran on the delivery of five S-300 PMU-1 systems worth $800 million was agreed on eight years ago, but was suspended by then President Dmitry Medvedev after the UN Security Council slapped Iran with an arms embargo over concerns that Tehran was making weapon-grade uranium to use it in warheads. Russian top diplomat Sergei Lavrov said earlier that the ban had become obsolete, citing progress in the nuclear talks between Iran and the six world powers that will eventually see UN sanctions phased out.

Col. Lysenko
reported that Russia-backed militants instigated armed provocations against
Ukrainian troops, using small arms, grenade launchers and mortars. They have
also fired from tanks twice in the area of Pisky village. Militants did not use
cannon artillery over the last day. “Shyrokyne and Chermalyk at the Mariupol
direction, areas around the Donetsk airport and towns close to the Bakhmutska
road in the Luhansk regions were the hotspots of the conflict,” noted Colonel
Lysenko.

Ukrainian
servicemen spotted 22 enemy UAVs yesterday, downing one of them that was flying
from Starobilsk towards Lyman, Luhansk region, at the height of 3,000 meters. “These
towns are 30 kilometers away from the demarcation line,” the ATO spokesperson
emphasized.

One Ukrainian
serviceman was killed in action and two got wounded in the last 24 hours.

Col. Lysenko also
told that members of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission and of the Joint
Coordination and Control have visited Shyrokyne village. The monitors urged for
a bilateral stage-by-stage withdrawal of forces in order to demilitarize the
region.

The ATO spokesperson noted that Russia-backed
militants have started to issue temporary IDs to be later replaced by “DPR
passports”. “No country in the world will recognize them, they will not be
valid when crossing the state border and cannot be counted as a proper document
during any kind of legal operations,” Col. Lysenko added.

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

A charity
fair dedicated to the Orthodox Easter have taken place on April 12 near the Assumption
Cathedral. Local inhabitants and guests were given a unique opportunity to purchase
works of craftsmen in many fields - artists, potters, engravers, weavers,
embroiderers, blacksmiths etc. Ceramics is one of the oldest and typical crafts
in Ukraine. Majolica, the most popular branch of pottery in Ukraine, has
developed in many regions of the country. The village of Opishnya in Poltava
region has been recognized as the capital of pottery in Ukraine. Today
Ukrainians still like to adorn their homes with majolica ceramics made of colored
clay, glazed and decorated in genuinely Ukrainian style.

Ukrainian
pysanky is painted eggs prepared as Easter presents for relatives and friends
together with good wishes. Clothes as well as works of crafts are connected
with its making: weaving, embroidery can be justly regarded as objects of art
which play an important part in national culture. Weaving and embroidery are
ages-old and traditionally women's crafts. Items of national clothes feature
national traditions, taste, imagination and wisdom of people.

It is planned that proceeds from the sale of works
of craftsmen will be utilized for the needs of counter-terrorist operation. Part
of this money will be transferred to the wounded soldiers who are undergoing
medical treatment in Poltava military hospital.

Sunday, April 12, 2015

April 9, 2015 (BBC News
Europe) The Ukrainian parliament has voted to ban propaganda and
symbols for "totalitarian Communist and Nazi regimes" in the former
Soviet republic. The list of prohibited items includes street names, flags and
monuments commemorating Communist leaders. A total of 254 members of Kiev's
450-member parliament voted in favour of the propaganda ban.

The legislation, which still needs
to be signed into law by President Petro Poroshenko, makes it illegal to deny
the "criminal" character of Nazi and Communist regimes. Items
prohibited under the bill include the Soviet flag and hymn as well as monuments
and historical plaques commemorating Communist leaders.

Saturday, April 11, 2015

Atril 11, 2015 (sputniknews.com) The United Kingdom will increase the
supply of non-lethal equipment to Ukraine, Defense Minister Michael
Fallon said in London on Friday. According to Fallon, Britain
also intends to assist NATO in strengthening its combat capability. In
particular, the British armed forces will participate more actively
in Alliance exercises and in patrolling Baltic airspace. On March 6,
the United Kingdom pledged to provide to Ukraine a package of non-lethal
military equipment, including helmets, night-vision goggles, GPS units,
hardened laptops and first aid kits, worth nearly $1.3 billion. London has
previously sent Kiev $1.8 billion worth of equipment, including personal
protective equipment and fuel for the winter.

Last month, some 35 UK military
instructors reportedly began training Ukrainian soldiers fighting
against independence militias in the east of the country. UK
instructors arrived in Ukraine's southern city of Mykolaiv and are
expected to stay for two months, improving Ukrainian troop skills
in defense and medical aid.

The military conflict
between Kiev and pro-independence forces of the Donbas started April
2014 and has killed over 6,000 people, according to UN estimates. The
warring sides have signed a ceasefire deal, on February 15.

Thursday, April 9, 2015

April 9, 2015 (BBC News Europe) Amnesty
International has said it has evidence pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine
summarily killed four Ukrainian soldiers in their captivity. Witnesses told the
group that one government soldier was shot at point-blank range by a separatist
commander. Amnesty also said it had videos of three others shown alive in
captivity, then dead in a morgue with bullet wounds to their heads and upper
bodies. A fragile ceasefire has been in force in eastern Ukraine since
February. The killings are tantamount to war crimes, Amnesty said.

"These claims must be promptly,
thoroughly and impartially investigated, and the perpetrators prosecuted in
fair trials by recognized authorities," said Denis Krivosheev, Europe and
Central Asia Deputy Director at the organization. The allegations come after
one separatist commander told the Ukrainian newspaper Kyiv Post he personally
killed 15 soldiers captured from the Ukrainian armed forces. An adviser to the
rebels told the BBC last year they had carried out executions in one
separatist-held area "to prevent chaos".

Rights groups have accused both
sides in the conflict of abuses. Some 6,000 people have been killed since
fighting broke out in eastern Ukraine between pro-Russian separatists and the
Ukrainian government a year ago.

Saturday, April 4, 2015

March 25, 2015 (DefenseNews) Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko
on Wednesday took delivery of 10 US armored vehicles, two days after American
lawmakers voted to urge President Barack Obama to provide "lethal"
aid to Kiev. Dressed in camouflage, the Ukraine leader thanked Washington for
the 10 Humvees, the first of 30 promised by Washington, as they arrived at
Kiev's Boryspil International Airport. In total, the US plans to send 200
regular Humvees, radios, counter-mortar radars and other non-lethal equipment
worth $75 million.

The US House of Representatives on
Monday voted 348-48 in favor of putting pressure on Obama to ship "lethal
defensive weapon systems" to help Kiev forces defend against Russian
"aggression". Obama has so far resisted calls to provide Kiev with
weapons and other heavy military equipment, but House Democrat Eliot Engel, the
lead sponsor of the resolution, told colleagues it was time to stop treating
the Ukraine crisis "as just some faraway conflict."

The United Nations estimates that
more than 6,000 people have been killed in fighting between Ukraine forces and
pro-Russian separatists in the country's east since April. Kiev and its allies
in the West accuse Russia of arming and spearheading the pro-Kremlin uprising,
but Moscow denies the allegation. A ceasefire signed on February 12 has largely
held despite sporadic fighting along the frontline.